Machine for decorticating ramie and other fibrous plants.



PATENTED NOV. 6, 190

I. M. A. FAURE. MACHINE FOR DEGORTIGATING RAMIB AND OTHER rnmous PLANTS.

APPLIOATIOK FILED AUG. 5. 1905.

4 BBEETF-IHSBT 1.

vN0. 835,412. PATENTED NOV. 6, 1906.

Y J. M. A. FAURE. MACHINE FOR DECORTIGATING RAMIB AND OTHER FIBROUS PLANTS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 6, 1906.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

No. 835,412. PATENTED NOV. 6, 1906. .J. M. A. FAURE. MACHINE FOR DEOORTIGATINGRAMIE AND OTHER FIBROUS PLANTS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 6, 1905.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

110,835,412. PATENTED NOV. ,6, L906.

' J. M. mrmnn. MACHINEFOR DEGORTIGATING RAMIE 'AND OTHER. FIBROUS PLANTS.

APPLICATION FILED AUG. 6, 1906- 4 BHBETB -QHBBI UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JEAN MARIE ANDRE FAURE, OF LIMOGES, FRANCE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented ivovje, 1906.

Application filed August 5,1905. Serial No. 272,936.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JEAN-MARIE ANDRE FAURE, engineer, of 21 Place du Cham de 'Foire, Limoges, Haute-Vienne, Repubhc of France, have invented Improvements in Machines for Decorticating Ramie and other Fibrous Plants, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description:

In order that ramie and other textile plants may be thoroughly decorticated, it is necessary, first, that the stems or leaves should be submitted to the action of a coarse decorticator, which dissociates them, yielding a productcomposed of the matters separated, and, second, that the disintegrated product should be submitted to the action of a finishing-cleaner, which serves to get rid of the forelgn matters entangled by the fibers.

The present invention consists of a finishing-cleanerv adapted to operate in an automatic and continuous manner and. so constructed as to efiect in succession the introduction of the previously-disintegrated textile materials between a pair of cleaning scraper-cylinders and their subsequent submission to a drawing action in a direction opposed to that in which the cylinders tend to draw the materials, such action continuin until the stems, &.c., are entirelydisengage from the cylinders. 1

The invention will be described with ref-,

erence to the annexed drawings, which show the apparatus by way of example.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the entire machine. Figs. 2 and 3 are vertical sections of the purifying apparatus, properly so called,

showing the stems as they enter and leave, the

machine. Fig. 4 is a plan of the endless carrier employed. Fig. 5 shows in section the two scraping purifying-cylinders. Fig. 6

1s a detail view of the comb by which the stems are fixed. Fig. 7 is a detail view showing the supports which are fixed upon the carrier and adapted to receive the comb, and Fig. 8 a corresponding plan View. Fig. 9 is a vertical transverse section showing the comb engaged with the carrier. Figs. 10 to 14 show an arrangement which permits of the automatic engagement of the comb with the carrier, Fig. 10 being an elevation, partly in section, and Fig. 11 an end view, while Fig.. 12 is a detail view of the cam employed; and

Figs. 13 and 14 are two detailviews showing the comb engaged with the carrier. Fig. 15

is an enlarged fragmentary section showing the connection between one of the slides/Tan the cross-bar i; and Fig. 16 is a section through the same mechanism shown in Fig. 15, but taken at a right angle relatively thereto.

Referring to the drawings, a is an endless carrier upon which the stems as they are dis charged from the coarse decorticating apparatus are either permitted to fall or placed by hand. The stems are fixed at their rear extremities to the carrier (1, as hereinafter described,, and as soon as their forward e tremities arrive at 'the oint of contact of he vertical tangent T. t eir weight causes them to fall downverti'cally at the same s eed as that at which the carrier travels, and t ey are thus caused to become en aged by a series of purifying scraping-cylinders b b; As, however, the rear extremities of the stems are fixed to the carrier a, the stems are not released, and

when their point of fixation is carried in the reverse direction the stems are automatically withdrawn from the scrapi-n -cylinders 12 b, as will be seen on referring to ig. 3.

In theirpassage between the heaters of the scraping-cylinders the fibers for the greater port10n of their length at all events,are separated from the foreign matters with which theywere entangledyand nothing remains to be done when the charge is released from the carrier except, if deemed desirable, to pass the extremities of the stems, which were fixed to the carrier and,- which were consequently not submitted tqt'he scraping-cylinders, through independent cleaners.

The stems are placdside by side upon thecarrier at with their'rear extremities in line, as shown in Fig. 4, and they are fixed to the carrier by means of the comb c, which .is furnished with teeth 0', Figs. 6 and 9. This comb is held by two supports (1, mounted opposite one another upon the cross-bars which form constituent elements of the carrier, said supports being provided for this purpose with gaps in which the corresponding extremities of the comb are received, Figs. 7, 8 9. In order to make the fixation of the fibers bv means of the comb more effective, the sup- .ports (1, which are arranged opposite to one another, may be connected by two vertical arms or by means of two angleleces e, Figs. 8 and 9, separated by a space t ough which the points of'the comb 0 may pass. These pieces serve as an abutment for the fibers atthe position where they should be an aged by the points-of the comb and enable t e latter to completely penetrate the fibers. The

f, attached to the side cheeks of the frame of of a single the machine, upon the interior surface of which run friction-rollers g, mounted on the extremities of the comb 0, so that the comb is held in place in opposition to the action of gravity, tending to disengage it from its so ports. The comb c is thus caused to parta (e of the movement of the carrier (1., and when it passes over the drum a its motion is reversed, and it is consequently pulled in the reverse direction by the carrier drawing on the fibers, as has been previously mentioned. When the comb arrives at the extremity of the lower portion of the guides f, it falls under the action of gravity, carryin the cleaned fibers which are fixed on its teet with it.

It is to be understood that the method of fixing the comb to the carrier is only given by way of example and that other arrangements maybe substituted therefor.

The scraper-cylinders b b, which are shown separately in the detail view, Fig. 5, are furnished with pallets, which when the cylinders rotate engage the one between the other. These cylinders are geared together by toothed wheels, so as to turn in reverse directions, as indicated by the arrows. Instead )air of scra er-cylinders the apparatus may be provide( with two pairs or with even a larger number. The dimensions and the speedof rotation of these scraper-cylinders would vary according to the different applications of the machine.

The movement of the driving-sh aft is transmitted to the drum (1. and to the cylinders b by a train of wheels. (See Fig. 1..)

In the arrangement described the'attendant places the comb c in those su the carrier which are nearest to t e rear extremities of the stems to be cleaned at the moment when these supports pass in front of him; but the engagement of the comb may be automatically effected by the following arrangement, Figs. 10 and 11: Upon the frame of the machine are mounted two channeled vertical columns h, braced at their upper part and serving to guide a, cross-bar 'L, mounted to slide on the columns and pressed upward by the spiral s rings 1', which surround the columns. T is cross-bar carries hooks is, adapted to receive the comb. At 1 are slides fixed to the cross-bar at each end thereof and mounted so as to move vertically within the columns. nished at their lower ends with rollers m, adapted to be acted upon at the proper moment by cams of the form shown in Fig. 12. The cams in question are mounted upon a cross-shaft 0, which is rotated continuously from the main shaft 7) of the machine by means of gear-wheels. These rotate the ports (I of I These slides are fur shaft 0 once for each movement of the carrier, this movement being equal to the horizontal distance between two consecutive supports (1. The cams n are mounted to slide upon the shaft 0 in such manner as to be separated under normal conditions from the rollers m and to be caused to approach the latter at the moment when the cross-bar i is to be lowered. The approach of the cams it toward one another is effected by means of a two-armed lever keyed upon a shaft q and connected by rods 7" with two levers 8, said levers respectively turning on axes -s and each terminating in a fork which engages the sleeve n of the corresponding cam and moves the latter to and fro. Each slide [is connected with the cross-bar 'i by means of a pin 'i, which works within a slot h, as shown more particularly in Figs. 15 and 16.

At the moment when the comb held by the hooks k of the cross-bar i, is to he placed upon the carrier to fix the stems, &c., the workman operates a hand-lever attached to shaft (1 in such manner as to cause the cams n to engage the rollers m, thus imparting to the rollers and the slides a downward movementand causing the cross-bar t' to descend and compress the springs j. The cross-bar 'i, then presents the comb c to the supports (1 of the carrier, Fig. 13, and causes it to enga e with the latter, the comb, which is carrie along by the movement of the carrier, disengaging itself from the lower limbs of the hooks lc, said hooks, however, continuin to descend, so that their upper limbs com 0 the comb to bed itself in the stems to be c eaned, Fig. 14. When the comb is thus adjusted in place, the rollers m are at the extremity of the cams and are released therefrom, and as soon as p the springs j return the cross-bar i to its initial position the workman throws the cams n out of action, so that at their next rotation they will not act on the rollers m. Another comb is then placed in the hooks of the cross-bar i, 'sothat the same operation can be repeated as soon as the rear extremities of the next charge of stems present themselves.

The arrangementv for automatically clamping the comb may vary in form and dimensions and its details may also be modified. With this automatic clamping arrangement the workman in charge of the machine only needs to lower the hand-lever at the moment when the rear extremities of the stems delivered from the coarse decorticator pass in front of him on the cafrier a, and there is thus no time lost in fixing the stems.

- The present invention enables ramie to be decorticated under very economical conditions, inasmuch as it eoonomizcs hand-labor and increases the output.

I claim 1. A finishing cleaner for decortioating ramie and other textile plants, comprising an endless carrier, transverse supports composed of two bars secured to the two edges of the carrier and having between them a small empty space, a comb the teeth of which may engage into the free space of these supports, scraper-cylinders arranged at one end of the carrier, substantially as described; a cam for actuating said comb periodically, and gearing connecting said carrier with said comb.

2. A finishing cleaner for decorticating ramie and other textile plants, comprising an endless carrier, transverse supports com-' posed of two bars secured to the two edges of the carrier and having between them a small empty space, a comb the teeth of which may engage into the free space of these supports,

a cam for actuating said comb, gearing for msurmg a positive motion between-said carrier and said cam, and.scraper-cylinders,-ar-.

ranged at one end of the carrier, substantially as described.

3. A finishingcleaner for decorticating 1 ramie and other textile plants, comprising an endless carrier, transverse supports comcrossar and located in the columns, cams capable of imparting to the cross-bar a downward motion, a devlce for bringing the cams nearer or farther, engaging or disengaging theml'rom the operating-rods, scraper-cylinders arranged at one end of the carrier, substantially as described, v

i The foregoing specification on my improve ments in machines for decorticating ramie and other fibrous plants signed by me this 8th day of July, 1905. 4

- L. s.] JEAN MARIE ANDRE FAURE.

itnesses:

GABRiE'L GoUTERoN, PAUL THOMAL. 

